[Lexicog] stereotypical beliefs and lexicography

[Patrick Hanks]

Oho! Lexicographylist has woken up again!

Do all languages contain derogatory stereotypes about neighbouring peoples? The recent discussion of "Dutch courage", etc. provided some interesting examples. Does Dutch have derogatory expressions involving "English"?  Or is Dutch stereotypically more polite -- or more parochial -- than English? 

Sometimes there is reciprocal derogation. English "take French leave" is (or was) matched by French "filer à l'anglaise".  Any other good examples?

& & & 

More seriously, I suppose that a major contribution that lexicography can make to the advancement of knowledge is to compile systematic lists of distinctions between stereotypical beliefs in various languages and the corresponding scientific and mundane realities. 

An example: If you accept statistically significant word associations as evidence for stereotypical beliefs, then the English stereotype for 'oasis' is that oases are calm. tranquil, quiet, and green (evidence from the Waspbench analysis of the British National Corpus, http://wasps.itri.bton.ac.uk/). But my much-travelled colleague Christiane Fellbaum tells me that in reality oases are typically noisy, smelly, dirty places full of bustling people and honking trucks.  About the only things that a stereotypical oasis in English has in common with the real thing, it seems, is that it's found in a desert and has water! 

Patrick

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